


A Different Take

by Kirthal



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: BLU, Builders League Unlimited, Gen, Video & Computer Games, valve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:52:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirthal/pseuds/Kirthal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is a soldier to do when she moves from one war to another? What if that war was fought in a world that is completely different from her own? How would the mercenaries react to a woman who could get the job done? Ross Wiegand is unfortunately going to be the one to find out the answers, whether she would like to or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. From One War to Another

**Author's Note:**

> I am just a fan of the game. I fully acknowledge that my dialects will need some work. I would greatly appreciate any help that could be given.

The world was spinning. That was really all I knew at the moment. I remembered the building falling down around us and then nothing. If I was alive, why wasn't I in pain. If I was dead, well all my years of not believing in a God were probably about to come around and bite me square in the ass.

"Zet her down carefully Wes."

"I know what I'm doin' Doc." I was being carried, I felt the arms under me. Forcing my eyes open was a mistake as the light burned instantly. "Think the shelia is awake." Why the hell was there a man with an Australian accent. Gaining my senses the best that I could, I rolled out of the mans arms. My body was didn't want to respond but Ranger training was not a waste of time. My hand found my trusted knife and I held it out in front of me. I could barely see and the room was spinning faster than before. There was a chuckle coming from the man that had been carrying me.

"Where the hell am I?"

"She's got fight in her."

"Fraulin, I must ask that you calm down." German and Australian, yeah this definitely wasn't the battlefield I left.

"What is going on?"

"We just found ya in our base. Not use to seeing shelias around here."

"You are at Teufort."

"How the hell did I get here from Afghanistan?"

"What?"

"Where is the rest of my battalion?"

"We didn't find anyone else mate." My eyes were clearing but I was losing touch with the world as I could barely stand the spinning was so bad.

"I have to be dead…that is the only logical explanation." At that thought, I slipped back into the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Groaning, I reached up to rub my hand over my eyes. Just as the hand was halfway raised, I remembered the odd dream. I had to be laying in a hospital somewhere, doped up heavily on pain meds. Opening my eyes, I unfortunately found no hospital setting. Instead, I was in a room comparable to dorm room size. Frowning, I sat up only to be greeted with a rush of pain from my ribs. Grimacing, I grabbed them. They weren't broken oddly enough, just extremely tender. Forcing myself to my feet, I looked around for my things but they were missing. My knife wasn't on me either. Cursing rather violently under my breath, I slowly made my way to the door.

Before I could get to it though, it was opened up. I swallowed a yelp that nearly escaped my mouth. The man that stood in the doorway was tall, having probably three inches on my near six foot stature.

"Ah, you're awake." He noticed my hand against my ribs. "They were pretty bad. Medic did all he could to clean them up…" I let out a frustrated sigh, accepting the situation I was in.

"Alright. I am here, I am seemingly stuck here. I have no weapons on me, no idea how the hell I got here, where here is, or what I am doing here. Can we at least try to fix some of these for me?" He chuckled. I normally found Australian accents quite pleasant but I couldn't give it the time of day at the moment.

"Sure thing Shelia. Follow me." He made a move to turn around.

"How do I know that I won't be jumped?"

Nothin' bad has happened to ya yet has it?" I grumbled at the man made a valid point. He didn't wait for a reply and just move on. I really had no choice but to follow him. I didn't like sitting in the room, in a place that I didn't know. Too many variables, too many problems.

I had a slight issue keeping up with his pace as my ribs were refusing to expand making it almost impossible to breath at a normal rate. He brought me to what looked like a mess hall. Frowning a bit, I immediately felt the eyes fall on me. Eight other men were in the room, all dressed quite differently from one another. My brain registered hostile environment and I didn't move too far from the door. I would bolt if I had to, even if I knew that I wouldn't make it all that far.

"Good, she is up." I looked towards the guff voice, instinct kicking in as it was familiar. The man had a helmet covering half his face but there was no mistaking that this was a fellow solider.

"Up and wanting to know what the hell is going on." He frowned and stood up. I didn't back down though I felt my jaw tighten.

"A woman has no place…"

"Cut the bullshit boy. I have dealt with men like you more than I have cared to in my life and I have shut them up rather quickly." There were snickers all around as he stepped closer to me.

"I already like her!" I placed the accent from Boston. Where none of these people from the same place? My eyes didn't move from the person in front of me.

"Why I oughta…" I raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on my face. Hurt or not, I knew I could take this guy.

"I dare you…" He went to throw the punch but I quickly countered it, jabbed him in the ribs, hooked my leg behind his, and had him on his back. There was silence all around. The pain spreading through my body had my eyes going cross for a moment and I knew that I was swaying on my feet. I pulled back, bracing myself against the wall.

"The fraulins ribs are not fully healed yet."

"No shit Sherlock…" Breathing was painful but I forced slow, deep breaths. The man who had come to get me went to take a step closer but I tensed up and pushed off the wall.

"Ain't coming after ya girl." I eyed him as he pulled the other man to his feet and pushed him back towards the seat he had once occupied.

"Who exactly are you girlie?" I looked over to see a kid, probably around my age if not a little young staring at me. He was the one with the Boston accent.

"One, don't call me girlie. Name is Ross, Captain 75th Ranger Regiment."

"Ross?" I followed my eyes.

"My parents wanted a son."

"You are a solider?"

"Marksman. Special Operations, retrieval." Slowly the room became more curious and less hostile. There was something about these men that reminded me of my own unit but I still was uneasy. The Aussie next to me spoke.

"Marksman?" I nodded.

"Been shooting since I was old enough to hold a gun, or a bow." He brought off his head and took off his shades, giving me a hard look.

"We will have to test that." A smirk came to his face though, despite that. He held out his hand for a shake, which I accepted. "If this lot has no manners, at least let me speak up…Names Wes. Team Sniper." I raised an eyebrow.

"Ah lass, looks like ya stumbled inta the middle of anotha war!" I looked over to the right to see a rather drunk looking Irishman, the dark skin in contrast against the blue that was he was wearing. A black eye patch covered his right eye.

"That over there is Rowan, the teams demoman. Handles the explosives and such." I nodded, showing that I understood and then gave the man a nod. He grinned and took a large swig out of whatever bottle was holding his poison of choice. The kid came up to me next.

"Mark, BLU scout." The kid was a ball of energy, reminding me of my brother a lot. He could never sit still. He was wearing a big grin and I couldn't help but return the smile. Next were the Medic, a German by the name of Jon, the Heavy, a Russian by the name of Dmitri, the Spy, a Frenchman by the name of Andre, and the solider who had gone toe to toe with me was Charlie. Apparently there were two other members missing, Andy who was the pyro and Ben who was the engineer.

"Well, that is all done and out of the way. Still doesn't explain why I am here and not with my battalion in the middle of a fight."

"Zhat is the last thing you remember my dear?" I looked towards the Medic, trying to ignore the use of the phrase.

"We were doing a raid on a building. The damn structure was already compromised that when they hit it with the rocket launcher just right, the entire thing started to come down on our heads. I was pulling Jackson towards one of the exits. He was knocked out by a chunk of concrete." I shook my head, letting the images play before our eyes. "I don't know if a single one of them made it out of there alive." Shaking my head to get rid of them, I looked up towards the men. They were all quiet.

"Well, I am here now though we still have no idea why. And there is a sinking feeling settling in my gut that I won't be leaving any time soon. So what happens here? You all have specific jobs, sounds like a regiment itself."

"Like Rowan said, we are fightin' a war. BLU's against REDs." Everyone in the room was wearing the same shade of blue and they all had some sort of insignia on them, matching their jobs. Reminded me a lot of the military actually.

"I can imagine that it is a little different here than where I came from?"

"Da. Jon has medi-gun."

"Medi-gun?"

"Zomething I invented myzelf. It is better zhan regular medicine."

"Fixes ya right up, good as new." Mark was bouncing around the room again.

"Don't go forgetting about the respawn."

"I take it you are Ben." The stocky man grinned and held out his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you Miss."

"Name is Ross, please no Miss." He nodded and shook my hand. I already took a liking to the Texan.

"Alright then Ross. Resprawn is a system set up for when we die on the battlefield."

"You mean to tell me that if you die on the field, you come back to life?"

"That is the basics of it." It was hard to believe, actually down right impossible to believe.

"That just can't be possible. You die that is it."

"I think the girl is in for shock when it comes to respawn." I ran a hand through my hair, shaking it quickly. I had to be with a bunch of absolutely insane individuals.

"I take it I can't get any of my weapons back?" Heads around me shook in a negative manner. "Can ya at least let me know what I had on me?"

"A nice knife, pistol, and some sniper gun…" I perked up a bit hearing that.

"My SVU was still on me? What kinda shape was it in?"

"Beat up but still usable." I let out a sigh of relief. That gun had seen me through more than my fair share of close calls. Wes smirked, noticing my look of relief.

"I'll take what I can get." Suddenly there was a loud ring that echoed throughout the building. The tension that ran through the group of man was palpable. I frowned, feeling uneasy simply from their reaction.

"We can't trust her alone!" I rolled my eyes and moved to sit down. I didn't know where I was, how many other people there where, or was I was. I really didn't feel like doing all that much until I knew more and could get my weapons.

"I am not going to do anything. I will remain right here."

"It is not like one of us can vatch over her Charlie."

"The lass will be fine on her own." The bell came again.

"Shit, we bettah get goin'." I was given a glare from just about each of the men before they rushed off.

"Well, I have certainly gotten into a mess now haven't I? What would Jackson and Skids think of this?" Shaking my head, I tried to relax in my seat more. I found myself curious as to where the team had run off to and why they had been so nervous and tense about it. My guess would be that it was whoever was in charge of them, that it wasn't going to be a pretty meeting.

It took them about thirty minutes to reappear. A few of them seemed shocked that I had indeed remained in the same spot that they had left me in. I raised an eyebrow at their questioning look. My arms were across my chest and my legs were propped out in front of me, crossed as well.

"I take it that was the boss?" Before they could say anything. "Listen, ten years of military experience does manage to teach you a thing or two."

"Yeah. It was the boss."

"Seems like you are going to be a new member of the team." I stood up, not sure if I was liking the idea.

"Do I have a choice in this?" There was a silence that confirmed the answer. "Of course, of course."

"It isn't a good choice." I rolled my eyes before turning towards Charlie, a deeper frown forming on my face. "Women should not be on the battlefield."

"Are we really going to go through this dog and pony show? You will lose this boy."

"Boy!?" I could hear snickers as we stepped closer.

"Don't you think I have bruised that poor ego enough for the day?"

"You don't know your damn place!" I immediately put back a hand to keep whoever was coming to break us apart away.

"Alright, fine asshole." I began to roll up my sleeves. " Let's do this."

"What…"

"The only way I can get him to shut his mouth is to prove that I can shut his mouth."

"But…" Charlie grinned at me, his helmet coming up just enough so I could see his eyes.

"Fine. Rec room, now." I silently followed the man as he left the room, leaving the others a little shocked.

"I think she is serious man…" That was all it took to get them moving after us.

He opened a door to what I assumed was the rec room. It was a cross between a training room and an entertainment room. I rolled my shoulders. I knew I was at a distinct disadvantage with my ribs being as injured as they were. The rest of the crew was right behind us, quiet and tense. Charlie took his helmet off and turned to face me. He was clearly a military man, his hair cut close to his head. He came right at me and I moved out of the way. My movement was going to be limited to my ribs, worse than I thought that it was going to be. I cursed mentally and hrew a punch to his ribs. It landed but he retaliated, his own right hook landing on my injured ribs. The breath flew from my lungs. I had long learned to block out pain though and with his head so close to my elbow, threw it hard. It hit him right above the eye, in the soft tissue of the eyebrow. There was a small pop followed by blood flowing down his face. He let out a grunt and threw me to the ground. I landed hard but found a grin coming to my face. He really didn't want to go here with me. Swooping my arm around his head, settling my forearm by his throat, I connected my hands. Shifting my hips to wrap around his body, I pulled down with my legs and began to pull up with my upper body. He started to sputter, his oxygen supply being completely cut off.

"Tap and I'll let go." He punched me hard in the ribs again, only one hand trying to get between my arm and his throat. I grunted, knowing that if they weren't broken before, they would be now. He wasn't going to give in though, not that I could blame him. He kept throwing punches until he stopped lifting his arm. His body went limp and I immediately released him, shoving his weight off my body. "Damn idiot." I moved to my knees and leaned over him. He was still breathing.

"Yo…is he okay?"

"He is just knocked out. I choked him until he passed out." Slowly I got to my feet, just managing to contain the major winces. "Someone might want to bring him back to the land of the conscious."

"That was impressive." I looked towards the Australian, a small smirk on my face. Shaking my head, I leaned back against the wall and turned to the side. Spitting a bit, I notice a tad bit of blood. Growling I rubbed the back of my hand across my mouth. "Something wrong?"

"Blood." That got a frown back on his face. "Probably punctured a lung."

"Well, let's get you down to the Infirmary." I didn't argue, knowing that this was a problem that I couldn't let go. I needed to get this treated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Entering the Infirmary, I was greeted with what looked like no other infirmary that I had stepped foot in. There were instruments that I was not familiar with at all and it set my nerves on edge a bit. I wasn't too fond of doctors to begin with and there was no saying what this Jon was like. Pushing aside those feelings, I didn't falter in my trail behind Wes.

"Hey Jon…" The German looked up from his position over Charlie, eyes landing on us. "Recruit has some busted ribs, spitting some blood." He motioned for me to hop up onto one of the beds and wait for him. I did as I was told and then turned to see Wes studying me. I raised a quizzical eyebrow in silent question. He simply shook his head in return, not giving me an answer. I coughed and spit up some more blood just as Jon was walking over to me.

"So, vhat do ve have here?"

"Well, they are certainly broke now with the shots I received. Prolly punctured a lung." He nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Wes, do you think that the Medi-gun vill vork?" Wes shrugged, arms across his chest.

"She is the new recruit. I'd venture a guess and say that she is hooked in."

"Might as vell give it a try then."

"Uh…" Something akin to a firemans hose was pointed at me. I felt my eyes widen, my muscles beginning to tense as if to bolt. I tried to get off the table and out of the way but I was too slow. I was hit with the blue beam that came out of the end nozzle that was pointed at me.

I didn't feel any pain like I was expecting. No, instead breathing got easier. I stared at the gun in amazement, not entirely sure how it was working or believing that it was working. The Doc chuckled to himself.

"And that tends to be how all the new recruits react." I pressed a hand against my ribs, feeling no pain. I was a bit shocked in all honesty.


	2. Realizations

**Four Months Down the Road**  
I watched as the Doc inserted the needle into my knee.

"Shall I ask just how you obtained thiz injury?" Instantly relief flooded my system as the roaring pain subsided.

"Old war wound. Bullet blew through my knee. I got lucky that it didn't take off my whole leg. Had the reconstructive surgery on it, completely artificial joint. The muscle has a tendency to act up though." Jon nodded.

"How long ago?"

"Going on four years. Laid me up for awhile and almost caused the military to hand me an honorable discharge."

"How long haz it been bothering you?" I shrugged the question off. Jon gave me a look that clearly told me that I needed to answer him.

"About a week and a half now." He tutted under his breath. I rolled my eyes but let out another sigh of relief and leaned back.

"You zhould have come zooner."

"I know Jon, I know."

"If it does act up again, come right at vonce."

"You got it."

"I vould like you to stay for a few hours. Just to monitor you."

"Alright fine." I closed my eyes and placed an arm over my eyes. If I was going to be here, might as well get some rest that I had been missing out on. No afternoon PT for me.

I had lost try of time when I heard the door open. I was in that hazy place in-between being conscious and dreaming.

"Jon, have you seen Ross around?"

"Ja. Vhy do you ask Wes?"

"We were going to get some target practice in."

"She is asleep in vone of the beds."

"What happened?"

"She is having an old injury flare up." I slowly let my arm drop and turned my head towards the conversation but couldn't manage to get my eyes open.

"She gonna be okay?"

"Ja. It is nothing major."

"Alright then." I heard footsteps walk towards the door before pausing.

“She vill be fine Wes. Go do vhatever it vas that you vere going to do.” A sigh barely reached my ears before the door opened and closed. I slipped into the darkness that was overpowering me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up, I was feeling good as new. Hopping off the table, I tested out the knee as best I could. Bending, twisting, even a little hop but it held up without any pain. That was a major relief. 

“I see you are avake.” I looked up only to see Jon watching me.

“Knee feels great Jon. Thank you.” He gave me a nod. “Free to go?”

“Ja. Keep an eye on it and let me know if it bothers you again.” 

“Will do.” I left the infirmary and headed towards my room. Looking towards my watch, I saw that it was closing in on dinner time. Groaning, it was my turn to cook. Changing my direction, I moved towards the kitchen instead. Charlie would have a fit if dinner was late and Mark probably would too. I didn’t need them to know how men got without foot. A muffled shuffled from behind me caught my attention. Hands in my pocket, I fingered my knife. I kept moving a few more paced before whipping around. 

Letting out a sigh, I only found that it was Andy. Shaking my head, a smile came to my face.

“Hey there Andy.” He had his gas mask off, a rare sight. He gave me a big grin.

“Hiya there Ross!” He came up next to me and we continued on towards the kitchen. “Dinner duty tonight?”

“Yeah. We will see how well it goes over this time.” He laughed, remember the last time I had cooked. It had turned out rather disastrous. Skids was the one who always cooked for Jackson, himself, and I.

“I think Charlie still has a hard time believing that you can’t cook.”

“It’s what happens when your father raises you as a son and has the traditional values of Charlie.” I ran a hand through my hair as entered the kitchen. “I think I have an idea.”

“Want any help?” I smiled over at the man next to me.

“Nah, it’s okay. You have dinner duty last night. You don’t need to be back in here. Go get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

“Yeah go on. I think I can at least manage to not blow up the kitchen. Blowing shit up is Rowans job after all.” That got another laugh out of him before he moved off towards out dinning room area which lead to a small area filled with couches and chairs.

I pulled out a steak and some pasta with cheese. If there was one thing I learned how to make from Skids, it was mac n’ cheese. Satisfied with the idea for dinner, I began to move about and cook the food.

The boys began to trickle in just as I was finishing up the food. 

“Is this going to be edible this time?” I shot a look towards Charlie.

“I tried to warn you. But yes, the food will be edible this time.” I saw Wes eyeing me carefully. I briefly wondered what that was about. Bring the bowl of cheese and pasta and steak to the table, the eyes of the men lit up. Steak wasn’t available too often and if there was one thing that I could cook was steak. Dad did pride himself on being able to cook some good steak and ribs. Everyone quickly took their helpings as I took my seat next to Wes. 

“Sorry that I missed out on our practice today…”

“I know ya were in the Infirmary.” I passed him a weird look. “Went lookin’ for ya when ya didn’t show.”

“My fault. Should have told you I was heading. Didn’t realize that Jon was gonna make me stay to make sure that all worked well.”

“What happened?”

“Old injury from when I was a bit younger was acting up. Tends to every now and then. Doc I have at home normally just lets me take care of it on my own. Tried to let it get better on its own as I had none of my medicine.” He just silently asked me to elaborate. “About five years ago, I took a bullet to the knee moving someone out of the way. Pretty much shredded it to bits, leaving me lucky that I didn’t completely lose the leg at that point. My right knee is an artificial joint, there was so much damage that they couldn’t do anything with what was left. It is all good, the tendons just like to act up from time to time. They had to pretty much let those mend themselves after sewing up what they could. Nothing really serious. Just makes it suck to move around.” The rest of the table was fairly silent as everyone was stuffing their faces with what I had cooked. I took that as a sign that they were enjoying what they were eating. Taking a few bites myself, I found that I had hit the nail on the head.

“How often does it act up?”

“Not enough to keep me from doing my job.” He looked towards me.

“Didn’t mean it like that Ross. Was just curious.” I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands over my eyes.

“Sorry Wes. I know you didn’t. Force of habit I guess.” He shrugged it off but his body language changed a bit. I could tell that he was put off with the way that I had addressed the question. I mentally cursed myself for letting it slip like that. It was something that had been pushed when I had come back from injury so it was an automatic response. I was going to have to put this right but that wasn’t going to happen now. I would have to figure out exactly how and exactly when. I would do it though. Seeing I was now going to get nowhere with him, I turned my attention to Andy.  
“Better attempt this time around?” The pyro looked up at me, grinning. It was a common sight on his face, when we got to see his face that was. 

“Delicious. Major improvement from last time.”

“Good. Skids taught me the mac n’ cheese recipes. It was one of his favorites, especially when he was sick.” I paused at the memory, missing Skids at that moment more than I had yet. 

“You mention him before…who is he?” I blinked, brought back to the world.

“He was my younger brother. Not in blood but we were close enough that people use to think we were related. Ryan was a good kid, really good kid. We were pretty much the only ones the other could rely on growing up.” I looked down at my food, suddenly having lost my appetite. “He is probably going out of his mind with grief.” I swallowed and decided I was finished. Andy didn’t question, knowing that he had hit a soft spot for me. I brought my own dishes back to the kitchen. Then I headed to my room, not really wanting to deal with any one anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was laying on my back, staring at a picture of Jackson, Skids, and myself when a knock on the door came. I ignored it, still wanting no interactions with the guys. The knock came again, whoever it was proving to be persistent. Once again, I ignored it.

“I’m sorry boys…I’m sorry that I could be a better friend, a better leader. I shoulda never brought you into that situation. It was a suicide mission from the damn start. I’m sorry that you went through hell when I went missing, that I put you through that."

“I’m sure that they forgive you.” I nearly jumped out of my skin as I looked over towards the source of the sudden voice. Ben was standing there, watching me. “I’m sorry for the fright. Just wanted to come and make sure that you were alright. You left dinner pretty quick.” I gave the Texan a soft smile and a small nod.

“Yeah. It is nothing.” He moved over and sat down on my bed.

“Missing them?”

“Didn’t realize quite how much until I had to start talking about them.” He laid a hand over mine and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“I think pretty much everyone here has loved ones that they miss.”

“Difference between me and you guys, you know that they know you are here. I have a feeling that they believe I am dead…and for all I know I am. This whole world seems so different from where I came from.” I closed my eyes and gathered myself for a moment. “They joined the army because I did. They followed my footsteps to ensure that we would not be separated too long. They worked their asses to make sure that they were placed with me. When you are all another person knows, for the majority of their life, there is a bond there that surpasses friendship and family. I am petrified that because I am gone…they will lose it. There always had been a joke that rang with a hint of truth passed between us that we couldn’t live without the others.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“Well you are here now ain’t ya?” I gave him a weak smile.

“That’s what I am worried about.” 

“I am sure that they will be okay. They sound like they have good heads on their shoulders and would know that you wouldn’t want their doing anything stupid.” I gave his hand a squeeze this time.

“Thanks Ben.”

“Anytime sweetheart.” He stood up and gave me a smile. “Looks like you could use some sleep to get your mind off of that stuff. Take a shower and hit the sack.” I gave him a half-hearted mocking salute. He left the room without another word, leaving me to get up and do what he suggested.


	3. Making Attempts

The morning rolled around all too soon, thanks to body’s natural alarm clock. Groaning, I forced myself out of bed and into some shorts and a t-shirt. I seriously debated for a few moments on skipping my morning PT as I had gotten little sleep all night. My dreams had been plagued by the faces of Jackson and Skids with, as odd as this was, the taunting voice of Wes. Running a hand over my face, I wiped the sleep from my eyes. If I hadn’t missed PT the previous evening, I would be more inclined to miss it but since that wasn’t the case, I knew that I had to force myself to move. My dog tags clanked in the silence, seemingly the only sound in the whole base. I knew that Charlie would most likely be up and moving around too though, meaning that it was definitely not the only sound that was being made.  
Stretching out my arms, I made my way through the base to the little outside area we had. I spied Wes’s van parked in the far corner like it normally was. Internally groaning, the situation between him and I came back full force. That would have to be solved later. I only had so much mentally capacity at the moment. 

Beginning the run, I lost myself in the rhythm. My feet pounded against the ground, the early morning air burned through my lungs, and the rest of the world seemed to fade away. It was therapeutic in a manner. It allowed my mind to shut down and my body to do the work. I didn’t notice that Wes had woken up and was now leaning against the outside of his van, watching my morning routine. I was through my tenth lap by the time I realized he was there. He had yet to say a thing so I kept on running, my brain now on overdrive. It was odd to have him watching me but remaining so silent. I couldn’t come up with a decent excuse to break the silence. Charlie ended up joining me around that time. I was actually slightly thankful to see him and to have something else to focus on besides Wes. 

“Morning Sarge.” He grunted a greeting to me. I found it amusing that I was a higher ranked officer and he nearly refused to acknowledge it. A smirk found its way to my face as I decided to pull the rank card. “Now that is no way to greet a superior officer solider!” I began to run backwards, easily keeping up with the pace that he was pushing. I hadn’t been named Captain for nothing. 

“Morning Captain.” I really could have some fun at his expense but it wasn’t worth it. I took the greeting with a nod and moved on. A smirk was planted on my face though.

After a good forty minute run, I think we were both done with that. 

“Got a proposal for you Charlie.” He turned to look at me, distrust written over his face but his curiosity was there as well. “You can punch way better than I can. And if we are being honest right now, I can roll better than you can. Say you help me with my punching and I can help you with your ground game. What do you think?” He paused, giving it thought. I could tell that he was tempted despite his hesitancy. I had to sweeten the deal somehow. 

“I know you could avoid a ground fight for the most part but what happens if you are in a tussle with a spy and it goes down to the ground for whatever reason? Power doesn’t automatically meaning winning on the ground.” That seemed to have sold him. He held out his hand. Grinning, I took his hand and shook it.

“You have yourself a deal Captain. Your punching could use some help and I am definitely the man to do it.” I chuckled.

“My ribs can attest to that Sergeant. Now, shall we get some push-ups and sit ups out of the way before heading to the Rec room to work on that?” A sly smirk came to his face.

“Think you could even keep up?” I bristled a bit before realizing that he was teasing me. To think of it, Charlie, teasing! Even under death threat would I admit to thinking something like that would ever happen.

“It is not a question of whether I could keep it, it is whether or not you can?” Immediately, we dropped to the ground. Quickly pushing out push-up after push-up, I forced myself not to laugh. We were in competition after all, even if we were playing around and enjoying ourselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Wes watched the two, and despite his frustration with Ross, he was enjoying watching her give it Charlie. Anyone putting that man in his place was worth their weight in gold and it was always a source of great amusement among the mercenaries. He could tell as they were running that she pulled rank on him, leaving him none too happy in acknowledging it. He was thrown though when they appeared to have a civil conversation. That was something that hadn’t happened yet in the time that the woman had been here. Then they shook hands, each smiling. Wes had to briefly wonder if he was actually awake or whether he had been shot dead. There was a laugh and suddenly both were on the ground. A feeling washed over him, adding onto the frustration that he was feeling. It was one that he was not all that familiar with and didn’t like immediately. Shoving it to the side, he pushed off his van and headed inside to go prep breakfast. It was his turn after all. He needed another cup of coffee as well. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was struggling through the last few that we were pushing out, noticing that Charlie was as well. Groaning and grunting, I forced my arms to push my body upward before collapsing back to the ground. Charlie managed to push out one more before collapsing. I gave a breathless chuckle.

“Alright, how many did ya do?”

“128. You?”

“God damn, only 126. Ya beat me by two.” A victorious grin came to his face. “Don’t let it go to your damn head. You only beat me by two.” I rolled so I was on my back and let my core muscles pull me up into a sitting position.

“Still beat you.” 

“This is going to be a thing now isn’t it?” I said it with a smirk on my face while he nodded in confirmation. “Fine. Let’s get moving then so I can knock you down a few pegs.” He got to his feet and we headed inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time breakfast rolled around, we had just managed to fit a shower in and headed towards the dining room. We were exchanging stories of old drill sergeants that we had, laughing at the others antics as the tales were recounted. We were sore, it showed in the way we held ourselves and there were various bruises lining our bodies, both visible and not. But it was the last day of the weekend, last day of the ceasefire before things picked up again. We would have the day to relax and recover. 

The noise died down completely when we entered the room. Seemed that everyone was shocked that we were actually holding a conversation and not at each other’s throats. Charlie looked out over everyone, the insult on the type of his tongue. I rolled my eyes and made my way over towards the table, continuing the story that I was telling Charlie and he let it die down and followed. We sat down and slowly talking began to resume. It was unusual that the rest of the team was there before us but we had run a little over time with the PT. The smell hit my noise and I immediately knew that Wes was cooking. It made my mouth water. The man had the market on making breakfast. I could feel eyes on us but ignored it, Charlie gaffing as I ended the story with the payback I had managed to get on the man that had made weeks of my life miserable.

It seemed that one good morning and pushing each other was all it took for me and Charlie to start behaving as if we had served in the same battalion for years. Wes brought in the food, avoiding looking at me. That had me frowning for a moment, reminding me of the task at hand for the day. We all dug into the food, an assortment of pancakes and eggs this morning. As per usual, it was delicious. I kept up my conversation with Charlie but my mind was now elsewhere. Maybe a peace offering of sorts would be worth a shot.

I had wasted away most of the day reading and relaxing. A quick nap after breakfast followed by a quick check by Jon had left with me a load of time on my hands. It was time that I needed to kill. I knew when Wes came in for his evening coffee after dinner and was hoping to beat him to the punch, bringing it out to him. Dog earring the page I was on, I set aside the book and rolled off my bed. 

Unfortunately, a peace offering to Wes as not in the cards tonight as Andy intercepted me in the hallway. Before I could manage to get a work out of my mouth, he was dragging me off towards the rec room.

“Woah, hold on there. Who lit the fire under your ass Andy? What is going on?” 

“We are playing poker and are down a player!” I cocked an eyebrow, confused as to why this was going to be involving me.

“You know that I have never played with you guys before, don’t have much of an interest to play right?”

“Come on Ross. Just this one night. Besides, you been cramped up in that room of yours for most of the day. Humor me here.”  
“Okay, okay. I will play poker with you guys tonight.”

“Knew you would.” Reaching the room, he plopped down in a chair and motioned to the free chair next to him. I sat down, seeing Jon, Andre, and Ben were the other players. This was certainly going to be interesting. A beer was placed in front of me and this time, I could refuse. Everyone else was enjoying their drinks and felt it unfair that I wasn’t drinking if I was playing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple hours later and it was nearing the time that we needed to hit the sack. We had to be put tomorrow for another long day of battle. I was feeling the effects of the alcohol in my system. By no means was I a light weight but I didn’t drink often and I suspected that they were slipping some liquor into the drink. 

“We should get you to play more often there Ross.”

“Ja. That vas some excellent game!” I laughed and shook my head. 

“No boys. I don’t play often.”

“It will happen soon mon cheri.” I rolled my eyes and gave Andre a pat on the head as I stood up. 

“Keeping think my dear Frenchman and maybe someday it will happen.” Everyone laughed and Andy stood up as well. “Now…we all need to get our drunk asses to bed. I don’t feel like hearing Charlie bitch us all out tomorrow morning.” We all laughed at the thought. Slowly, they stood up as well and we began to stagger and stumble the way back to our room.

Andy slug his arm over my shoulder halfway back to the rooms, leaving his weight somewhat on me. I blinked in a surprised manner but my brain was far too foggy and hazy to really think much of it.

“I don’t know what Wes’s problem was today…” Wes, I needed to talk to Wes. That was what I was going to do before Andy had pulled me along to play poker. “He hasn’t been like this since you came along Ross. You brought the man out of his damn van for more than coffee and work.”

“I need to go talk to him…” I tried to pull away from Andy but ended up nearly falling flat on my face.

“You are a little drunk right now.” He laughed but managed to steady me. He was drunk too though, swaying on his feet.

“So are you.”

“Talk to him tomorrow.” I shook my head, that stubborn, drunk determination coming over me. 

“Let go of me Andy.”

“Come on Ross.” I ended up attempting to throw a punch. It went a bit wide as I was not able to truly focus in on his face. He continued with my momentum and pinned me against the wall. A little grunt escaped from me, having not expected the movement.

“What the fuck?” Andy hadn’t removed his gaze from me, and despite the hazy in my mind, I registered that this was not only an uncomfortable situation but one that I wanted out of right away. He leaned in, as if he was going to kiss me. My instincts had me reacting before he could get close enough. I went to knee him but he managed to catch it. I struggled to get away. Instead, with a steadiness and a strength that caught me off guard, he lifted me off my feet and tossed me over his shoulder.

“Put me down Andy.”

“I don’t think so.” I growled and this time, my swing found its mark. I nailed him in the back of the neck. He let out a curse and dropped me to the floor. I hit with a loud thud, groaning as my shoulder had gotten caught at a somewhat awkward angle. Slowly, I pushed myself up. Andy was grumbling, turning his attention towards me. 

“Stay away asshole.” I turned and moved before he could close the gap. I needed to talk to Wes and patch things over.


End file.
